The Miami Heat has been very shorthanded in recent games due to a string of injuries to key players. They will have even less depth for the next game due to an extremely bizarre suspension issued to veteran center Dewayne Dedmon on Wednesday night.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Dedmon has been issued a suspension for one game after consultation with the Miami Heat and the NBA due to an incident on Tuesday where he knocked a massage gun onto the court in frustration.
Miami’s Dewayne Dedmon has been suspended one game, in consultation with the team and NBA, for actions Tuesday night that included knocking a massage gun onto court.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 12, 2023
The incident occurred after an argument with Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, where he was seemingly upset about his lack of playing time and proceeded to smack the massage gun onto the court.
Dewayne Dedmon was ejected for throwing a massage gun onto the court after getting into it with Erik Spoelstra 😬pic.twitter.com/m5o4aZodyZ
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 11, 2023
This incident resulted in him getting ejected from the game, and ultimately with the suspension that came in a day later.
The NBA world took notice of both the incident and his suspension coming in on Wednesday, and they got some laughs out of the very strange suspension.
“Nothing says Heat vs Thunder on Primetime like Dewayne Dedmon slapping a Theragun onto the court,” tweeted Playmaker Betting.
Nothing says Heat vs Thunder on Primetime like a Dewayne Dedmon slapping a Theragun onto the court 😂 pic.twitter.com/GN8FfapHbu
— Playmaker Betting (@playmakerbet) January 11, 2023
“I thought this was fake scrolling through the TL but holy cow lol,” tweeted Evan Dammarell of the Locked on Cavs podcast.
I thought this was fake scrolling through the TL but holy cow lol https://t.co/3l5UN5v68R
— Evan Dammarell (@AmNotEvan) January 11, 2023
Spoelstra spoke about the incident after the game, saying that it is par for the course for his team.
“That’s the Miami Heat,” said Spoelstra via Wed Goldberg of The Ringer. “We’re all a bunch of gnarly personalities.”
Erik Spoelstra on the argument with Dewayne Dedmon that led to his ejection: "That's the Miami Heat. We're all a bunch of gnarly personalities."
Adds that Dedmon leaving the court "was unacceptable."
— Wes Goldberg (@wcgoldberg) January 11, 2023
It was overall an extremely silly thing for Dedmon to do, especially since he was one of only nine active players for Miami on Tuesday night. He will now miss the team’s upcoming game for the Heat against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.